


on the rooftops

by call_me_steve



Series: pick me up (and don't put me down) [1]
Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Bruce Wayne is a Good Parent, Carrying, Dick Grayson is Robin, Father-Son Relationship, Fluff, Gen, Short & Sweet, don't wake the sleeping baby!!, he's baby!, idk what else to tag so, it's v important
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-01
Updated: 2020-12-01
Packaged: 2021-03-09 23:47:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,082
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27824749
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/call_me_steve/pseuds/call_me_steve
Summary: Dick starts getting tired on patrol. Bruce acts accordingly.
Relationships: Dick Grayson & Bruce Wayne
Series: pick me up (and don't put me down) [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2036278
Comments: 24
Kudos: 190





	on the rooftops

The stars twinkle in the sky for the first time in weeks, but Bruce only finds his eyes drawn to a streak of red and green. He carefully traces the blur from rooftop to rooftop as his own feet take him through the city. The night is quiet and still; Bruce has nothing to worry about involving his Robin, so he allows him to roam as far as he pleases. 

That, of course, doesn’t stop his heart from leaping to his throat whenever the tell-tale yellow shine of his Robin’s cape disappears. It doesn’t stop his gut from sinking when he can’t find his Robin’s shimmering grin among the dull gleam of the street lights. He’s reassured in seconds, just like always: his Robin performs a triple flip and lands with a flourish, arms thrown out to his sides and a smile aimed right at Bruce. 

“Did you see  _ that?” _ Dick asks, bouncing on his toes. He pulls back towards Bruce, relinquishing his lead. Once he clicks into place at Bruce’s side, his tiny hand snakes over and finds its way into one of Batman’s dark, large gloves. “I bet  _ you _ can’t do that.” 

“I bet I can’t,” Bruce agrees, easily. 

He’s telling the truth- he’ll never be agile in the way that Dick is. That’s to be expected, after all: Bruce has trained for brute force and brilliance. Dick was raised to be flexible and slight above everything else. Because of that, Dick’s small and light. Easy to lift and to throw in the air. Easy to pick up and carry without a second thought. On top of that, their uniforms were created with both of these differences in mind. Bruce’s costume is thick and heavy, the cape weighed down. Dick’s outfit is breathable and airy, his cape stirs at the slightest breeze. 

But, even beneath the light costume, Bruce would have to be blind not to see the sleepy slant to his ward’s shoulders. 

He stops for a moment at that. It’s not as if it’s all that late or that tonight has been demanding. The only problems they’ve encountered have been a rogue purse snatcher- which Dick had dealt with by dropping onto them and returning the purse- and a stray drug dealer that Bruce had scared away. Nothing physically demanding in the slightest. 

Then, Bruce recalls Dick flipping around. He’d been doing it all day and, despite what Bruce thought at certain moments, Dick didn’t have an unlimited supply of energy. There were times when he’d curl up beside Bruce and pass out after dashing through the manor halls all day. Was this one of those times? 

Unsure of how to ask, Bruce glances up at the sky. It’s probably hardly past midnight, but- it couldn’t  _ hurt _ to wrap up patrol early. Even if Dick isn’t tired, they can do something else. Dick  _ had _ been talking about a movie he’d wanted to see, recently. 

“We should return to the cave,” says Bruce, mind made up. “It doesn’t seem like there’s anything going on tonight.” 

The prospect makes Dick’s lips quirk up again; they’d fallen previously in Bruce’s bout of silence. Then, suddenly, Dick breaks out into a yawn. His jaw stretches as wide as it can go before he claps it shut with an audible click, looking scandalized that his mouth would dare attempt to do such a thing. 

Bruce isn’t sure why it’s  _ that _ that makes him act. It is, in the end- without thinking about it, Bruce leans down and scoops Dick into his arms. Dick scrambles up his shoulders and perches there like they’ve done this a thousand times. Once he’s settled, Bruce gets a gentle grip on his ankles and sets out into the night, their capes fluttering in unison. 

As they drift through the city, edging closer to where Bruce had left the batmobile, Dick folds his arms over the top of Bruce’s cowl and settles his chin onto them. He slumps; that’s the only indicator Batman gets to let him know that, somehow, his Robin has managed to fall asleep.

When they get to the batmobile, Bruce pulls to a stop. He doesn’t want to wake Dick by moving him and- some small, small part of him doesn’t want to put Dick down at all. Dick has never snored, but there’s a soft wheeze whenever he sucks in a breath through his nose. Bruce has latched onto it; his breathing matches Dick’s unknowingly. It’s comforting, oddly, and Bruce isn’t sure he wants to lose it yet. And- well- it wouldn’t do to wake Dick up, would it? Dick’s never been able to fall back asleep after waking up. 

The manor, Bruce decides, isn’t that far away. He can make it to one of the cave entrances without having to set Dick down in no less than ten minutes. It can work. 

_ But,  _ he thinks next,  _ Dick  _ does _ sleep like the dead. _

Bruce isn’t sure how long he stands there for, contemplating what to do. Eventually, he gives in. He doesn’t want to wake Dick up, no matter how silly the idea of walking back to the cave is. He’s done it before, after all, and he can do it again, sleeping child or not. 

He sends the batmobile ahead of him and sets off on foot. 

His footsteps, naturally soundless thanks to the soles of his boots, fall in time with Dick’s soft breathing. Thoughts bleed into the background; there’s nothing more than left foot, right foot, left foot, right. Eventually, (over twenty minutes later, in fact), Bruce finds himself in the cave proper. 

There waits Alfred, a gentle smile on his face. The batcomputer casts a blue hue over his pale skin; Bruce had thought that he’d shut it off before leaving, but, presumably, Alfred had been using it while they were away. “Master Bruce,” he greets. 

“Alfred,” Bruce replies, carefully. 

“I suppose patrol went easily enough.” 

“It had.” 

With good humor, Alfred quirked a brow. “You do understand that to get the Young Master into bed, you’ll have to wake him regardless.” 

Bruce pauses. He truthfully hadn’t. How can he wrestle Dick out of his costume without waking him up? It’s not like he can  _ sleep _ in his Robin uniform. And- Bruce will have to put him down to change out of his own outfit. 

Feeling his face pull into a frown, Bruce speaks one last word: “Damnit.” 

It echoes around the cave and fills the absence of gentle breaths. 

**Author's Note:**

> for my friends in the discord server :) btw, there's a LOT more to this series, so skgjh
> 
> uhhh, come yell at me on tumblr: [potato-reblob](https://potato-reblob.tumblr.com/)


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